Julie K Hermann, the new Rutgers athletic director, has once again made headlines! Hermann has admitted to being gay in her 453-word official university biography.

An excerpt of the bio:

"Hermann and her partner Dr. Leslie Danehy are the proud parents of a seven-year-old son, Aidan."

But she said that she would like to be judged solely on her performance as an athletic director.

"I'm really blessed to have a wonderful family, and we're excited to become part of the Rutgers community," Hermann said.

Hermann is one of the few Division I athletic directors who has publicly acknowledged that she is gay. She was chosen among 63 candidates to be named the first female athletics director in school history on May 15. She replaced Tim Pernetti as Rutgers new athletic director.

Hermann was subsequently pressurized to quit from the post even before she began serving at Rutgers. Campus community members and the alumni questioned Robert L. Barchi, the president of Rutgers University, for hiring Herman as the next AD despite learning about the charges she faced during her stint as coach of the women's volleyball team at the University of Tennessee.

She denied the allegations that she verbally and emotionally abused volleyball players she coached at Tennessee in 1996. Before taking the Rutgers job, Hermann was an executive senior associate athletic director at Louisville for 15 years.

"I feel I have lived a life of integrity and operate with integrity, but I am not a perfect person," Hermann said. "I knew it [the job] would be tough."

Pernetti, former Rutgers athletic director, resigned on April 5, two days after the head basketball coach, Mike Rice, was fired for being abusive to players. Rice's unethical behavior was shown in a video - verbally and physically abusing his players, including using anti-gay slurs - which was broadcast by ESPN. This controversial videotape also led to the resignations of assistant coach Jimmy Martelli and interim senior vice president and university counsel John Wolf

Topics Lesbian, Rutgers, Athletic, Director, Rutgers University, University